Ray Singer

http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/sword20.html

Hi Adrian, I am glad to hear that you are doing this. After Jim passed, I archived all of his articles in PDF format. There are some images missing, but the text content is fairly complete. The only piece I am aware that is missing is the addendum to his article "Hard to kantei" where he reports that the tachi was papered to Fujishima Yukimitsu by Yoshikawa-san. These articles were some of my first nihon-to study material I encountered when I started almost 17 years ago. Jim is sorely missed, I will be glad to see this content available online to collectors again. I'll email the files to you. Regards, Ray

A large iron ball pommel does not sound like a Japanese Sword, perhaps Chinese? There are faux tanto koshirae that you occasionally see which are entirely hollow and designed to store or hide a scroll. I can recall at least three of these from past shows.

The Nobuyoshi line is considered Mishina school. The shodai was one of the Kyoto Go Kaji. I'd like to say that the shodai was a student of Iga (no) Kami Kinmichi, but I'm going off memory and am sure someone will correct me here.

This mei looks more like Morimitsu than Narimitsu to me. http://www.ricecracker.com/japanese_swo ... hi/sw2.htm

Hi Eric, at this price range you have a lot of options. This seems somewhat expensive for a mumei, Muromachi period sword. If your goal is, as you stated, to locate a Nambokucho or earlier piece, then it may be worthwhile to be patient and continue looking. There was quite a nice late Kamakura Enju tachi, healthy and flawless, that recently sold on Aoi Art for not a great deal more than this sword. - Ray

Thank you Curran. I would love to even see photos if the piece ever passes through your hands again. Tsuruta had one that also had the mantra done on the same writing style of the original Gohonzon text, but it sold almost instantly. I thought it may have been Umetada. Also worth passing on for reference was the shodai Tadayoshi which Fred sold at auction: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/LotD ... ID=5253794 I had often wondered if these pieces which copied the writing so faithfully were treated as Gozonhon by their owners, as the literal object of devotion during their chanting.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. I would love to find a set with this motif, as my wife is a Nichiren Buddhist and this is the mantra which is chanted. And BTW, keep me in mind if you decide to sell them later. I always keep my eye open for kodogu with this theme, yet always seem to just miss them when they come up for sale. Gendai or not, they would be of interest...

A few years ago, Cary Condell gave me a microdear cloth from Etsumi to try as an alternative to uchiko. I have never gone back (at least as far as swords which are in fresh polish). Here is the cloth I have been using... http://www.amazon.com/Microdear-Microfi ... pd_sim_p_1

That you Ted. I just did a search online to see if there were any other Moritaka examples and it brought me back to an older NMB posting from 2006 with a Morinobu having both star stamp and Kao. http://www.nihontomessageboard.com/niho ... 77159a4b69

Yes, I had assumed so. Not so get too off-track from the stamps topic but is there any consistency in whether smiths who typically included a kao in their mei did so in star-stamped blades? I have seen a number of Kawano Sadashige, but it appears that he usually excluded his kao on blades which were arsenal submissions. Likewise, I recall a Gassan Sadakatsu with a star-stamp and no kao.

Another stamp example for the archives. I acquired a very nice Kongohyoe Minamoto Moritaka this past weekend. On the mune are two KUMA stamps. This is also the first Moritaka I have seen which did not include a kao. Photo below... - Ray

Does not answer your question, but thought you would be interested in seeing this Naomitsu which was just listed for sale. http://www.e-sword.jp/sale/2011/1110_4020syousai.htm

Looks like Seki ju Ishihara Yoshimune Saku. And as Jean said, not very old. A Showa period blade.

Yes, I am familiar with that piece. There is another Sadayoshi Sadahito gassaku for sale now in Japan. http://www.seiyudo.com/ka-081911.htm I used to own a very beautiful gassaku by those two smiths that appeared to have been done as a copy of O-Kanemitsu.

I know that there are some collectors on this discussion forum who are interested in shinsakuto and wanted to send over this link. http://www.sanmei.com/contents/media/S6 ... _PUP_E.htm I have not personally dealt with this seller, and cannot vouch for them, but thought this might be of interest to someone in the NMB. It is the first I have seen by Sadayoshi with ayasugi-hada, most of his works (and those of his sons) seem to have been done in the Soshu-den.

Alternately, gimei were added because a dealer or owner wanted to increase the value of the sword and can be seen as a defacement to an otherwise legitimate piece. I am very conservative about this kind of thing, but feel that a gimei should be removed when it a clear case of deception.

Unfortunately it is no longer on exhibit but we recently had another display which included nihon-to. This one covered Yamashiro-den, as part of a larger show on Kyoto in the main exhibition area. It was just a few pieces, a Rai tanto, Nobukuni naginatanaoshi shoto, and a Heianjo Nagayoshi yari, but gave a nice overview on Yamashiro-den from Kamakura through Muromachi. I have also been speaking with them about doing a larger show which focuses exclusively on Nihon-to and hope to see that happen in the next year or so. There are some remarkable collections here in South Florida and we could certainly put on a great show if the local collectors 'combined forces' . Let's definitely get together for drinks when you are back in town, it would be great to invite over a few other local collectors for a sword meet-up...

Thank you both. I had this koshirae on display at the Morikami Museum (a wonderful museum and gardens here in South Florida) but unfortunately was not able to identify this mon when I was asked about this at the opening.

This is very helpful, thank you Keith... Best, Ray

Hi all, would greatly appreciate assistance identifying the two kamon featured on this koshirae. Photos of the saya and tsuba (nerikawa) are below... Many thanks, Ray

Some very good quality sue-koto can be found in this length, I have not seen literature that discounts a sword based on length alone, but regardless would not subscribe to that opinion. This would not be an appropriate length for a boy's day sword. When you say niku, do you mean that the kasane is nearly the same along the nakago and at the mune-machi? This does not necessarily mean that the sword is not polished down, but rather may indicate that the kasane has not changed much since the most recent osuriage. My point is that the current nakago kasane does not tell you how thick the sword was when it was ubu. The mekugi-ana closest to the bonji would be the later, rather than the earlier, ana. We know that the sword was shortened, so the ubu-ana would not be on the one furthest from the nakago-jiri. It is also possible that neither of the present mekugi-ana are original.

Appears to read Kunitsugu.

Why do you feel that the length is strange? It does not seem all that unusual for an osuriage koto wakizashi. If the sword was shortened by 3 sun and was ubu before the suriage was done, the original length would have been appx. 65.6cm. Alternately, if the sword had already been shortened before the current most recent suriage then it is possible that the bonji was visible above the habaki. Rather than 'writing in at least three hands', I am seeing what may be an original horimono, an inscription added aside one column of bonji and a second set done at the time the sword was shortened.

Interesting koshirae, someone got a bit overly creative http://www.eldreds.com/pictures/jap11/282998.jpg